DIY Android MegaPad is 23-inches of touchscreen glory

For decades now in science fiction films and stories, it’s been basically a norm for screens of all types, shapes, sizes, and interfaces, to be home to touch-screen functionality. One of the more popular places gigantic touchscreens appeared relatively recently in film was the sci-fi classic Minority Report – so popular was this film, in fact, that any time you see a monstrous transparent touch-sensitive display here on the web, the film’s name wont be far behind. What we’ve got today that’s right along those lines is a relatively giant (23-inches, in this case) display that works not just with touch interaction, but with Android to boot!

What you’ve actually got here isn’t so much a tablet or a smartphone but an touchscreen panel attached to a rig that runs on Android. This is the Android MegaPad and, as its designer notes, it took a few weeks and right around $600 to build. It’s Martin Drashkov, tech writer and odd computer builder, and he says that its obvious to him that the Android MegaPad is the next logical step after the tablet – “a modern touch-based computing device with with a screen size that will enable a whole different set of experiences.”

The sheer size of this device coupled with the mega multi-touch abilities it holds allows more than one person to work with it at once. This, as Drashkov notes, opens up yet another door into new games and interactive apps. Drashkov has made a video showing off a couple of apps that benefit greatly from such a monstrous touch display despite having been build originally for a much smaller panel.

Remember that this device, while it appears to simply be running Android 2.3.x Gingerbread on a 23-inch Acer touchscreen display, is connected to a bigger set of gear in the background. That said, how does $600 for a 23-inch stationary Android-run panel sound to you? What would you do with it? Perhaps use it as your own customized smart TV?

This is clearly going to happen in the future on a bigger scale, not necessarily on Android to start with, but we’re well on our way. Well con, Drashkov!